Improved ditching-machine



dinard *gtatte SPENCER BENTLEY, OEGR'EEN oak,

MICHIGAN.

Letters Patent No. 93,401, 'dated August 10, 1869.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making pari; ofthesame.

t To whom it may concern: Be it known thatI, SPENCER BENTLEY, of GreenOak, in the county of Livingston, and State of Michi- 4 gan, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in -Machines forDitching-Purposes'; and I do declare that the following is a true andaccurate description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingldrawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, and being apart of this specification.

lFigurel is a side elevation,-with the side of the case removed. w'

Figure 2 isa -perspective view, from the opposite side, of the frontofthe machine.

` y Like letters refer to like parts in each figure.v

The nat-ure of this invention relates to the construction of a machinefor excavating ditches; and conf sists in a new form of shovel, forcutting one side ofy the ditch, when moving ion one direction, and theopposite side when moving in an opposite direction, with a novelelevator for removing the dirt excavated, so arranged as to preventclogging; also in a device for drawing'the dirt -from the shovel to theelevator.

O, in the drawings,repre'sents an open frame, its

rear end being supported by a traction-wheel, A, whose shaft isjournalled into the sides of the frame.' This wheel is provided withteeth, for the double purpose of giving it a firm hold on the ground,and for operating vthe elevator by means of the cleats N, with whichsaid teeth engage.

The forward end of the apparatus is supported by a pair ofbearing-wheels, K L, (the latter of which is shown in dotted lines in'iig. 1,) revolving on a shaft secured to the adjustable staridard P, thedepth of cut being regulated by the nut Q, on the top of said standard.v v

J .isacutter, secured to the beam immediately in the rear of thebearing-wheels, for the purpose of divldingthe earth in the centre ofthe proposed ditch.

It are cheeks or side plates attached to,and suspended from the frame C.

' M is a shovel, secured between said cheeks, and which is made in theforni shown in the drawings. The right lipor edge of the cheek should befaced with steel to out the clay in forming the right wall of the ditch.

The shovel is formed with an offset or jog, X, on the left side, thebottom of the cheek on the same side being cut away, which willleave inthe bottom of the 'ditch a correspondingfr'idge, upon which the bottom`of the left cheek will slide and have abearing, to assist in keeping theapparatus upright. By this arrangement the space between the cheeks isgreater than the width of the ribbon of clay takcnup by the shovel,allowing the clay to spread out on the elevator, and preventing anytendency to clog in its passage.

S are corugated chain pulleys, which carry the endless-chain elevator B,which is constructed in the following manner:

Two lpieces of what is termed jack-chain, of Ysuitable length, aretaken, which have their ends joined *l together, so as to form twoendless belts, and which serve as a foundation and carrier for thesuperstructureof the elevator.

N are iron cleats or anges.

T are sheet-metal plates, cut the width of the interior of the case,`and one end thereof secured to the chains heretofore mentioned. Thesame bolts, screws, or rivets may pass through the iron cleats orflanges, and thereby secure them,as wellas the plates, to the chains.'lhese cleats or flanges should, iu their distance from eachother,correspond with the spurs on the driving-wheel,jwith which they engage,and from which the elevator derives its motion, in the forward motion ofsaid driving-wheel.

A swell, b, is formed on the under side of the carriercase, under whichthe carrier passes in close proximity with the driving-wheel A, and isdesigned to act as a tightener to compel the engagement ofthe cleats orflanges N with the cogs or spurs on said wheel.

If the plates T are so placed on thecarrier to overlap a trifle, no dirtcan possibly fall down between them,but should any. fall through thesmall space between their edges and the sides .of the casing, 'as theyare attached to the carrier by one end only, it

-will fall through those on the under side of the carrier to the bottomof theditch, whence it will be taken up at the next'passage of theimplement. v

.- D is a hoe, operated by the cranked shaft U, which in turn isoperated by a belt, I, from a supplementary pulley on the side of thedriving-Wheel A, passing over the pulley V, which is secured to theshaft U.

The Ashaft of. the hoe works between the stops EA V and F, which formfulcra by means of which, and the action ofthe crank, the hoe is raisedin moving forward, and is depressed against the shovel M, in receding,scraping the dirt from the shovel on to the plates of the carrier.

v When the dirt arrives at the top of the casing, each' plate is tiltedin passing over the pulley S', and the dirt thereon is dumped into thedischarge-'spout O,

'which delivers it at one side ofthe ditch.

To make the finishing-cut atthe bottom of the ditch, the position of thebearing-wheels should be reversed, thereby allowing the larger wheel torun in the deeper side of the cut, While they apparatus cuts theopposite side to an equal depth.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The hoe D, and stops E and F, and crank G, in connection withdriving-pulley H, belt I, and driving' wheel A, when constructed andoperating substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. The machine described, consisting essentially of the frame- G, shovelM, couveyer N T B, hoe D, and bearing-wheels K L, the whole beingcombined and operated as andfor the purposel set forth.

' SPENCER BENTLEY.

Witnesses:

LOUIS C. HYDE, GEORGE RUHLANDT.

